CREW CRUNCH
Manpower shortfall could ground aviation industry

THE Indian aviation industry, pulsating with growth, is facing a talent crunch which could potentially impede the prospects of the sector, industry officials feel. "The way the industry has grown, getting the right people on board, especially those in operations, is a challenge that airline companies have to face," Surajit Banerjee, Head of HR, Spice Jet, said during a recent panel discussion on "Is there a pilot on board" in Bangalore.

"It will take another two to three years for us to recruit rapidly and develop our own alliances with institutions," he said. According to Prabh Sharan, Head of Training, Kingfisher Airlines, there is a manpower shortage which is critical and the industry needs to address it.

There is a huge demand for both technical and non-technical manpower in this sector which needs to be focused upon, he said.

Flytech Aviation vice-president (Operations) G. Jaffer Mohiuddin, however, said: "Aviation as a profession is becoming very attractive and lot of youngsters were opting for training in the field." "Compared to the 13 students we had in 2002, today we have about 600 students in our academy," he said.

Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has also warned that airlines across the world could face a severe shortage of pilots unless industry and government work together to change training and qualification practices. IATA issued a new estimate that the industry may need 17,000 new pilots annually due to expected industry growth and retirements, according to a report released in Bangalore recently. "Increasing the retirement age to 65 will help but it can't be the only solution. It's time to ring the warning bell. We must re-think pilot training and qualification to further improve safety and increase training capacity," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA director General and CEO.

He told the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) International Safety Forum that the industry is concerned that "there are no global standards for training concepts or regulation. Pilot training has not changed in 60 years -- we are still ticking boxes with an emphasis on flight hours". IATA supports the competency-based approach of multi-crew pilot licensing (MPL) training programmes. Unlike traditional pilot training, MPL focuses from the beginning on training for multi-pilot cockpit working conditions.

It also makes better use of simulator technology. Europe was among the first regions to adopt MPL and Australia and China are moving ahead with implementation. IATA launched the IATA Training and Qualification Initiative (ITQI) to support a global approach to MPL implementation. "Our goal is to increase the pool of candidates and training capacity while improving standards," said Bisignani. — PTI